1. Field
The present disclosure relates to a method and system for sharing data between a plurality of users in an online group on a communications system for initiating and sustaining behavioral changes of the users.
2. Background of the Disclosure
Many societal problems can be addressed, in part, by encouraging individuals to change their everyday behavior. Such societal problems may include over-consumption of resources, pollution and congestion caused by auto traffic and the increasing costs associated with addressing lifestyle-related health problems such as obesity, type 2 diabetes, and heart disease. One approach to enabling behavior change is to form online communities or groups that enable people with similar goals or conditions to interact with one another. The online community can be implemented using various known communications systems and venues, such as a website, blog, or posting using the Internet. In such online communities interactions can include jointly committing to goals, sharing experiences, sharing activities and achievements, engaging in contests and competitions, providing advice, and offering emotional support.
A drawback, for example, to the above discussed communities is that people differ greatly in their personal characteristics. For instance, in a group of people committed to losing weight, a person who is 10 pounds over their ideal weight has a different situation from a person who is 150 pounds over their ideal weight. In another example, one person may be a single parent with a limited income and a 12 hour a day job leaving them with limited time and resources, and another person may be an upper middle class retired executive who has ample time and resources to address a problem and implement a solution. Such differences in people's personal characteristics, e.g., environment, life style, time demands, can result in advice proffered to one person, having little relevance to another person. Similarly, because individuals most readily form social bonds with others who they see as like themselves, such differences may also result in individuals feeling that they have little in common with the others in a group, reducing the possibility of the people in the group providing mutual emotional support. For both of these reasons, a person or a group of people in an online community are less likely to initiate and sustain positive behavioral change.